


A Liberty City Halloween

by renfield31



Category: Goosebumps - All Media Types, Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto Series (Video Games)
Genre: crossovers you never expected!!!, yet another fic in my "20 and 30somethings acting like teenagers" series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-11-26 19:49:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20935766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renfield31/pseuds/renfield31
Summary: Surprise!  The GTA IV gang celebrates Halloween.  But when Niko and Roman go trick-or-treating, they meet a sinister foe who promises them that their problems with the Russians will go away...or will they?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please do not ask how this crossover came into my mind, it's wicked embarrassing. I hope you all enjoy!!
> 
> I am still working on Fast Times in Liberty City!! DO NOT WORRY, IT WILL BE FINISHED!! I just wanted to take a break and write a chill Halloween fic.
> 
> So in my Googlin', I found out that chocolate bananas are wicked popular Serbian candies! And I'm sure there's candy in the GTAverse but it's never mentioned, so I just used real candies.

**Liberty City, October 31st, 2008**

Niko and Roman hung out in the Middle Park East apartment carving pumpkins on the dining room table. Roman carved a bowling ball into his, while Niko carved a scary face into his. The younger Bellic turned it around to show his cousin.

"What do ya think, cuz?" he smiled and posed with his jack-o-lantern. Roman smiled too.

"Looks just like you, cousin!" Niko's smile turned into a disapproving look as Roman laughed. "Come on, let's go put them outside!"

The boys put candles in the pumpkins and took them outside of their apartment door. Roman set his down and put Niko's baseball cap with the Russian flag on it. "Comrade, your orders are to guard this apartment!" He saluted.

Niko snorted. "A pumpkin with a bowling ball and a Russian flag hat. I definitely feel safe, Roman."

At that moment, Bernie came running up to them. "Guys! Guys! Hey guys!"

"Oh, great," Roman rolled his eyes.

"Guys! Guys! Come to the Halloween party at my place tonight! There will be dip!" He handed them each a flyer and smiled.

"...Dip?"

"And chips!" He smiled excitedly. Roman and Niko just looked at each other uneasily.

"Uhhh...no offense, Bernie, but...we have plans tonight," Roman lied. 

Bernie stomped his foot. "Look, no one EVER comes to my parties! I JUST want people to come to my Halloween party! Is that TOO MUCH TO ASK??"

"All right, all right!" Roman calmed him down. "MAYBE we'll drop by."

Bernie gasped and hugged both of them. "You guys are the best!" He ran off. Niko raised an eyebrow.

"He came all the way over to the other side of Middle Park just to invite us to a party? And what 'plans' do we have tonight?"

Roman chuckled excitedly. "Cousin, I am going to show you how Americans celebrate Halloween!"

"I know how to celebrate Halloween. We just never did it in the Old Country. Our mothers never had any money for costumes."

Roman pointed at him as he opened a drawer. "Okay, you and your negative attitude are not ruining the best holiday ever!"

Niko snorted again. "What do you mean 'best holiday ever'? You _hate _Halloween, Roman. You won't watch scary movies with me, you won't go in haunted houses, you won't do anything on Halloween!"

"Niko, that was _Old Country _Roman! Americanized Roman _LOVES _Halloween!"

"Yeah? Then go to the abandoned hospital with me."

"Oh fuck no."

"Exactly."

* * *

**Later that night....**

After work, Niko and Roman went back to the apartment to get their costumes ready. Roman came out in a toga and wearing an olive branch on his head and sandals. Niko was dressed as a football player. His jersey was royal blue and his pants were white and he wore #11. They both looked each other up and down. Roman was confused, while Niko was amused.

"What are you supposed to be?" Niko had to hold in a laugh.

"I'm Roman!" Roman pointed to the olive branch crown on his head. "Duh!"

Niko's amusement and smile grew. "Roman, I don't think the Romans wore togas. Why didn't you just be a gladiator?"

Roman stared at him.

"...You know, like the gladiators in the Coliseum in Rome? Or a centurion? Or Pontius Pilate?"

When his cousin continued staring at him blankly, Niko dropped the issue with a wave of his hand. "Never mind..."

"Well, what the hell are _you_ wearing? You hate American football!"

"Yeah, well...Kate and I are doing a couple costume. I am an American football player and she is a cheerleader. Her idea."

"YES!" Roman made a "yes" gesture with his fist.

"What?"

"Cousin, one of the best rules about Halloween is that couples costumes equal automatically getting Halloween sex! That is why Mallorie is going to be Cleopatra to my Julius Caesar." He jerked a thumb at his stomach with a proud look on his face.

Niko chuckled. "If you were Zeus and she was Aphrodite, maybe that would be true."

Roman's smile faded. "What do you mean?"

Niko couldn't take it anymore. He raised his voice, but still spoke with a smile on his face. "Roman, you're dressed as a Greek, not a Roman!"

Roman looked down at his costume. "...Oh..." he shrugged. "oh well, I worked too hard on this costume to change it now!"

Niko arched an eyebrow. "It looks like you just throw a pillow case over you."

"Niko, literally all you did was go to the party store and buy a football player costume that was already put together with pads and everything."

"Touché."

"All right, listen. I'm going to show you how to trick-or-treat."

"What?"

"Trick-or-treat! You get candy!"

Niko's ears perked up. "Candy??"

Roman chuckled and motioned with his arm. "Get over here, cousin!"

Niko walked into the kitchen to where Roman had some reusable shopping bags laid out. "Okay, cousin, this is what you do. You take the shopping bag," he picked up a reusable 24/7 bag and showed him. "You open the shopping bag," he opened it up as Niko stared at him, amused. "You go up to the door, ring the doorbell and then when someone answers, you say 'trick or treat!' and hold out your bag to get candy!"

"What if no one answers?"

"Then they are dicks."

"Okay."

"Seriously, cousin, is easy! Sometimes you don't even have to knock! Sometimes people will put out bowls of candy!"

"_Bowls_ of candy?"

"Sure! _Trust _me, cousin. Is 8:30 now. We'll go at 9 so we're not trick-or-treating with the little ones. I always meet up with Brucie to go. He showed me how to do it! We know the best places in Broker to get candy!"

* * *

**9 p.m. - Boabo**

"Are you sure about this, Roman?"

"Positive! Brucie and I know all the good places!"

Niko and Roman were outside of Brucie's house. Roman rang the doorbell. After a few minutes, the door opened to reveal Brucie, shirtless as usual.

"NBBBBBBBBB!!!!! RBBBBBBBBBBBB!!!!!! WINNERS!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!" Brucie was about to bump chests with Roman when he saw his costume.

"RB, I think you got the wrong civilization, bud."

A bored look came upon Roman's face as Niko burst out laughing. "Even _Brucie_ knows your costume is historically inaccurate. Dumbass."

"Well, where's your costume, Brucie?"

Brucie stared at the older Serb, appalled by the question. "RB, you should know this. This is my costume every year. Brucie doesn't NEED a costume, baby! I am GENETICALLY. DIFFERENT, okay? THIS IS my costume!"

Both Serbs exchanged uneasy glances. "Ahh...come on, Brucie, let's go," Roman said. Brucie got his bag and the three boys headed out.

"I can feel it, boys! There's candy to be...uh...treated to!" Roman chuckled. Niko smiled.

"Is that what you say now instead of 'there's money to be won'? Both gambling and candy are unhealthy, Roman."

"Yeah but candy is AWESOME!!" Brucie exclaimed, making Niko laugh.

"Can't argue with that."

They drive up to Iroquois in Hove Beach, near the cab depot where a bunch of houses were. Roman pulled alongside the curb and the three boys got out.

"All right, cousin. Got your bag?"

"Yep."

"All right. Remember what I told you."

They got up to the first house and Roman rang the doorbell. The dark-haired Serb smiled giddily at his cousin. "This is gonna be so fun! My cousin's first American Halloween!" he said in a small excited voice.

"Remember to smile," Brucie advised. "if it's a little old lady, that'll win them over."

The door finally opened and the boys smiled. "Trick or treeeeat!" they said in unison.

The woman, who looked to be in her 50s, smiled and put a hand on her chest. "My, what great costumes! But aren't you boys a little old to be trick-or-treating? Here, I have something special for you."

She left the door open and walked away. Roman and Brucie checked her out.

"She's got a nice ass...maybe she's a MILF," Roman suggested, which earned him a nudge from Niko. Finally, the woman returned and the boys put on smiles again and held out their bags, but their smiles slowly faded when they saw that she was carrying fruit and vegetables.

"For you..." she dropped an apple into Roman's bag.

"For you..." she dropped a stalk of celery into Niko's bag.

"And for you!" she dropped another apple into Brucie's bag. "Happy Halloween!"

She closed the door and all three men stared into their bags.

"I thought you said we get candy?" Niko whined.

"W...we do! Some people are assholes. Let's try another house," Roman said and they went to the next house and rang the doorbell.

"Trick or treeat!"

This time, they weren't even greeted. Roman and Brucie both got oranges and Niko got another stalk of celery.

"What is with these people and celery?" Niko took a bite. "Not bad, though. Needs peanut butter."

All of a sudden, Brucie started sniffing the air. Roman rushed up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

"What is it, boy? What do you smell?"

Brucie sniffed twice more before declaring, "Candy."

"Yay!" Roman and Niko cheered. 

"Where?" Roman asked.

"That's...the bad news. There," he pointed to a house with a flashing blue light and spooky decorations and music. Niko's face lit up, while Roman and Brucie gulped, terrified. They walked over to the house and stood in front of it.

"Brucie, you go in," Roman said.

"The fuck? I ain't goin' in there."

"Hey, you pussies want candy, right?" Niko looked at both of them. Both the Serb and Brucie said "yeah."

"Okay, then we all go in. Look!" he pointed. "is one of those houses that you said they put the bowls of candy out in, Roman! This'll be easy!"

All three strode up the front steps confidently to the candy bowl. The flashing blue light and scary loud organ music engulfed them, but they were too entranced by the bowl filled to the brim with candy. 

"Take as many as you like," a sign on top of the bowl read. The guys' faces lit up.

"Oh fuck yeah!" Brucie smiled and the boys grabbed heaps of candy, filling their bags up high. They emptied the bowl and turned to leave and were halfway to the steps when someone wearing a ghost face mask jumped out to scare them. Brucie and Roman screamed, while Niko judged them with an arched eyebrow and shook his head smiling. They all ran down the steps, Roman and Brucie panting.

"Cousin, don't EVER make us do that again!"

"Hey. you got candy, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but we almost killed!" Roman hit his cousin on the head with his candy bag.

"Yeah!" Brucie chimed in.

Niko laughed. "By a guy in a mask? Come on, you guys are such wussies. Let's go get more candy."

On the way to the next house, a kid of about 12 or 13 came running up to them. "Hey, gimme some of your candy!"

"Go to bed, kid! Where are your parents?" Brucie sneered.

"Yeah, it's ADULT Halloween now!" Roman barked.

"Wait, wait, wait. What have you got for us?" Niko stepped up. The kid thought for a bit.

"Hmm...you got an Eastern European accent...here! I got these in Hove." He held up a bag of chocolate bananas in a bag with Serbian on it. Niko's and Roman's eyes widened.

"Are those choco-bananas??" Roman asked.

"Yeah, where'd you get these, kid?" Niko took the bag. The kid shrugged.

"I don't know. Some fat Russian guy gave em to me."

Niko and Roman looked at each other knowingly. "Did he have a mustache?" Roman asked, concerned.

The kid shrugged again. "I don't know. Hey fatass, put on a shirt!" He punched Brucie in the stomach and ran off.

"Jerk," Niko mumbled.

"He called me fat! KID! GET BACK HERE!" Brucie ran after him, leaving Niko and Roman to shake their heads.

"Come on, cousin. A few more houses and then we'll go back to Algonquin and eat this shitload of candy!"

Niko nodded, smiling eagerly and he and Roman went to a few more houses.

* * *

**Middle Park East, Algonquin - 9:56 p.m.**

The boys dumped all their candy on the dining room table in the Middle Park East apartment and looked at their haul wide-eyed.

"Whoa...cousin, how's this for your first American Halloween, eh?"

"I'll say. Look at all this stuff!" He sifted through all the candy. "Laffy Taffies, Twizzlers, M&Ms, _Sour Punch Straws..."_

The boys started eating candy after candy and Niko brought over a bunch of horror movie DVDs.

"All right, _rođak,_ here are our choices." He showed Roman each DVD as he put them on the table. "_Night of the Living Dead, It, The Evil Dead, Poltergeist, Dracula A.D. 1972..." _He gasped and smiled evilly as he held up the next one. "_The Exorcist!"_

Roman groaned and frowned at all of his choices being scary movies. "Why don't we watch _Dracula: Dead and Loving It _or _Young Frankenstein?"_

Eventually, Niko won out and the cousins put on _The Evil Dead _and continued to eat candy. Niko reclined against the couch with two Sour Punch Straws stuck up his nostrils, shoving his mouth full of Laffy Taffy and M&Ms and Skittles at the same time, while Roman sat up watching the movie, also with Sour Punch Straws in his nostrils and burying his face in the blanket during the scary parts. His eyes started to wander, bored, and looked closer at his trick-or-treat bag that had fallen over on its side. He thought he had emptied it, but there was something else inside.

"Hey cousin, did someone give you a book tonight?"

Niko took a break from shoving his mouth full of candy and looked over, confused. "A book?"

"Yeah, there's a book in my bag..."

Niko paused the movie and both cousins went back to the dining room table. Niko pulled the book out of the bag and read the cover. 

"'R.L. Stine'..."

That caught Roman's attention. "R.L. Stine?? _The _R.L. Stine??" He snatched the book from his cousin's hands. Niko was lost.

"...Who is he?"

"Cousin, don't you remember reading Goosebumps books in the Old Country? _Night of the Living Dummy_, _Monster Blood, Go Eat Worms?"_

"Unfortunately, Roman, I was too busy fighting a war to read children's books." Niko took the book back and observed it. "But who would give grown men a children's book?"

"Cousin, _Goosebumps _books are _not_ children's books. Children's books put you to sleep. These keep you up all night."

"I thought you said the bombs in the middle of the night kept you up at night?"

"Those too. But more so these." He tried to open the book, but it was sealed shut. Roman observed it closer. "Is locked...who would lock a book?"

"There's no title..." Niko said, looking at the cover and the back again. He shrugged and put it back down on the table. "Is just a lame book, Roman. Come on," he stood up. "put your gay olive branch back on and let's go to Bernie's party."

Roman nodded and the cousins adjusted their costumes and left.

But once they were gone, the sound of a lock coming undone echoed throughout the spacious apartment... 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Serbian:
> 
> samo uđi ovde = just get in here
> 
> jezivo = creepy
> 
> Spongedude is my GTAfication of Spongebob. ^_^
> 
> Happy Halloween!!!

**Dukes - 10:02 p.m.**

"Ma, I said a Ghostbuster, not...the reef blower guy from Spongedude!"

"Patrick, you're lucky you got anything at all, now go have fun! It's Halloween, for Pete's sake!"

Packie groaned and walked down the steps of his house, lined with the pumpkins that each of the McReary children--except for Francis--had carved, trying not to look at the blue button-down shirt and jeans and portable vacuum cleaner that his mother had provided him with for his costume.

"This sucks...guys, let's go!" he called when he reached the bottom of the steps.

Gerry came out dressed as Indiana Jones and jumped from the doorway to the bottom of the steps, landing on his two large feet perfectly and clapping a hand on Packie's back.

"Cheer up, Packie! Remember at the beginning of _Ghostbusters II _where they go out of business and Ray and Winston show up to the kids' birthday party? Pretend you're doing that, but with adults at a Halloween party!"

"Fuck off, Gerry! KATE! Come on, let's go!"

In her room, Kate applied one last shot of perfume and put her hair in its ponytail. Smirking as she adjusted her cheerleading skirt and top that showed off her belly button, she ran out to meet her brothers, putting her cardigan on. Gerry wolf-whistled.

"Whoa, Ger, cool it with the incest," Packie calmed him down.

"Ahhh, she's not interested in me anyway."

"Niko Bellllliiiic!" Packie sang, wiggling his eyebrows at Kate. 

"Patrick..." she rolled her eyes. 

"Well he's gonna be there, Kate!"

"Yeah, I know, but we're just friends!"

"Today I learned that friends make out," Gerry said, making Packie laugh. Kate rolled her eyes again.

"Okay, _maybe _we've had a few make out sessions. But really, you guys, it's casual! Like Packie's costume!"

"Oooooooh!" Gerry's eyes widened.

"Hey, fuck off! You're lucky because you cheered in high school. You had your costume already! Ma doesn't know who the fuck the Ghostbusters are so now I look like a fucking janitor."

Gerry laughed. "You should put on a red or green shirt and some overalls and draw a mustache on your face and then you'll be a plumber!"

Kate laughed.

"Fuck off!"

They walked to the Huntington Street El train station and boarded the train going into Algonquin. 

"So how do we know this guy again?" Gerry asked.

"He's a friend of Niko's and Roman's from Serbia," Kate informed him.

"And how do _you _know that?"

Kate shrugged innocently. "Niko introduced me to him."

"Oh," Gerry said, but eyed her suspiciously.

"I have to warn you guys, he's a little...um...flamboyant."

"Flamboyant?"

"Like _gay _gay," Packie looked up at his brother.

"Ohh...well, no matter how gay he is, he's not as gay as you look as a Ghostbuster, Packie!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Packie hit the back of Gerald's head as he and Kate burst out laughing.

**Middle Park West - 10:13 p.m.**

Niko and Roman entered Bernie's apartment and found it adorned with orange lights and Halloween decorations. It was crowded too, with people in costumes drinking, eating and talking in every room. Monster Mash and other Halloween songs played on Bernie's surround sound stereo. A raven-haired girl dressed as a hula dancer in a coconut bikini that hid her big breasts and a grass skirt walked up to the two Serbs with two red solo cups filled with spiked punch.

"Hey guys, enjoy the party!" she handed the cups to them and smiled slyly. Both boys thanked her and watched her walk away with attracted looks on their faces. 

"How does a gay man know so many hot women?" Niko asked, taking a sip of punch. 

"Straight women flock to gay men, I don't know. Florian calls it 'gaydar'," Roman also took a sip as they headed further into the apartment.

"Guys!!! You made it!!!" Bernie ran up to them dressed as a vampire.

"Hey Bernie! Vampire, huh?" Roman pointed out. For some reason, this enraged Bernie, who stomped his foot. 

"NO! I am a fabulous, flamboyant, sexy gay vampire!"

"...Are...you sure? Because it looks like you're just dressed as a normal vampire."

"And we're from Eastern Europe, Bern. Vampires are kind of our thing," Niko added.

"Ugh! I wouldn't expect _straight men _to get it! No offense, I love both of you guys." He walked away.

Roman looked at Niko with an arched eyebrow. "Hopeless."

"Completely." They both took sips of punch and walked into the front room. 

"Mallorie is already here..." Roman observed. "aaaand she is Cleopatra and I'm...Greek."

"Ahhh. what are you worried about? According to you, they're practically the same thing."

Roman shot his cousin a look. "Hey, at least I don't look like an overgrown teenager trying to relive his glory days as an All-American quarterback and...go team go..." his eyes widened and he bit his lip as Kate, Packie and Gerry showed up, Kate in her sexy cheerleading outfit.

"Hey!" Kate ran into Niko's arms.

"Heeey!"

Kate hugged her boyfriend and then looked at his cousin. "Roman, I think you're dressed as a--"

"Greek, I know," Roman sullenly took a sip of punch.

Suddenly, a rude Russian accent invaded their space.

"Oh, didn't you dweebs hear? This is supposed to be a _costume_ party!"

"What do you want, Dimitri?" Niko narrowed his eyes as the Russian, dressed as Two-Face, approached, flanked by Faustin dressed as the Riddler and Vlad dressed as the Joker.

"Did you color one half of your face with purple crayon?" Roman asked, making Niko laugh.

"So what if I did? My costume is still way better than yours! It looks like you just threw a pillowcase over you!"

"Yeah! Dimitri's Halloween costumes are immora!" Faustin said in a matter-of-fact voice, smoothing back his hair. Everyone stared at him. Niko and Roman looked at each other, confused. Vlad finally figured it out.

"It's immor_tal_, Mikhail."

"It's ir_rrelevant, _Vlad!" Dimitri lost his patience. "Look. We're watching both of you. If either of you pull any funny stuff, we will know."

"Dimitri, asking the Bellic cousins not to cause mischief on Halloween is like asking a baby not to shit his pants," Roman smiled as Niko laughed.

"Whatever. We will know."

"Hey listen! I'm Roman so I can like...excommunicate you and stuff!"

Everyone went silent again and stared at him. Niko tapped his cousin on the shoulder. 

"The Romans weren't Catholic," he murmured. Roman looked over his shoulder at him.

"Yeah they were. Roman Catholic. Duh. I mean, it's right there in the name..."

Niko shook his head. 

"They were polytheists," Kate added.

"What??"

"They believed in multiple gods, Roman," Niko said.

Roman thought for a bit, but shook his head, ignoring him. "Whatever. Anyway, I'm Roman, so I know Jesus personally!"

"Did he just say he knows Jesus personally?" Faustin murmured to Vlad.

"Leave it, he's rolling," Vlad kept his eyes on Roman.

Niko tapped Roman on the shoulder again. "The Romans didn't believe in Jesus either."

Roman spun around and addressed Niko.

"I'm sorry, Niko, but my name is Roman, so I think I am the expert here, yes?"

Niko raised both of his hands, surrendering, and he and Kate tried to hold back laughs as Roman continued.

"Anyway, I'm Roman so I can excommunicate you, find you guilty of witchcraft AND burn you at the stake!"

Niko stuck his fist in his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Kate turned away from the conversation and doubled over laughing. Dimitri just stared at Roman with a raised eyebrow. He brushed it off and walked up so that he was right in front of Roman.

"Well, Bellic, since you know Jesus personally, I trust you'll be calling Him when I have you nailed to a cross with a gun to your head?"

Roman gulped and said nervously, "Only one that can be nailed to the cross is my Lord and Savior."

"Roman, you don't go to church."

"Shut up, Niko!"

Kate was laughing now.

"Whatever," Dimitri said. "bottom line is: we're watching you."

They walked away and Niko raised an eyebrow.

"Witchcraft? Knowing Jesus personally?"

Roman shrugged and smiled. "Roman Catholic!"

"...We are Orthodox, cousin."

"We all believe in Jesus, cuz! And speaking of God's beautiful creations..." His voice trailed off as Mallorie approached the gang dressed as Cleopatra, with an Egyptian headdress and gold breastplates. She wasn't happy, however, as she threw her hands up.

"Jesus, Roman, you fucking idiota! We said ROMAN, not Greek!"

Roman's smile faded as he looked down at his costume.

"Told you," Niko murmured and took a sip of punch. Roman tried to come up with an excuse.

"Well...this is how the peasants dressed!"

"Don't let Vlad hear you say that," Niko said.

"Ugh...Roman, HOW do you mess that up??" Mallorie looked her man head to toe. "You're still so fucking hot, though. Let's go." She grabbed his hand and led him away to a bedroom. Kate watched with an arched eyebrow, taking a sip of punch.

"I'm Team Mallorie," she declared.

"Me too. Roman wouldn't know historical accuracy if it showed him its titties."

Kate turned to look at him. "That's both the stupidest and sexiest thing you've ever said." They started to make out slowly against the food table. 

Thirty minutes later, Roman and Mallorie had finished their business and came out of the bedroom just as Bernie announced, "Okay guys, everyone take your places for the costume contessst!" in his annoying singsong voice. Kate, Niko, Roman and Mallorie looked on, bored.

"So, it's Halloween," Kate smirked. "You guys wanna see someplace scary?"

Roman and Niko looked at each other, thinking.

"We have something better," Roman announced. Niko was caught off-guard.

"We do...?" he said in a hushed voice.

"The book?"

Niko rolled his eyes. "Roman, is just a dumb book."

"There's something off about that book, cousin. You don't just randomly find a Goosebumps book in your trick-or-treat bag."

"Wait, did you say a Goosebumps book?" Kate heard them.

The cousins nodded. Kate looked between them warily.

"We used to read those all the time...what do you mean it just showed up randomly?" her eyes moved between the two cousins.

Roman shrugged. "We came back from trick-or-treating and it was just there..."

"We need to go back to your guys' place. Now."

**Subway - 10:37 p.m.**

"Kate, what is this all about? Why do we have to go back to our place?" Niko asked as he, Kate, Roman, Mallorie, Packie and Gerry rode the subway back to Middle Park East.

"I don't know if you guys heard about this, but last year upstate, some kids found a Goosebumps book and all the monsters were released from it!"

Niko gave her a look. "Kate, you know better than to believe such nonsense like that."

"It's true, Niko," Packie nodded. "it was on the news last year."

Gerry joined in on Niko's eye rolling. "It was on Halloween. Whoever did it was probably just pulling a stupid prank. An _epic_ prank of godly proportions and they gotta teach me how they did it, but a stupid prank."

"All the same, I don't want anything to happen to you," Kate took Niko's hand, causing the guys to awww. Niko half smiled.

"Kate, is just a dumb book Roman found. Nothing will happen. All of you listen to me. There is no such thing as ghosts or monsters or creatures coming from a book. Vampires, yes. Ghosts, no."

Gerry was confused. "...How do you believe in vampires but not ghosts?"

"I'm from Eastern Europe, I kind of have to."

"Fair."

**Middle Park East - 10:43 p.m.**

The gang dashed up to Niko and Roman's apartment. The TV was still paused on _The Evil Dead. _When they found nothing out of order, Niko threw his hands out to his sides.

"See? Nothing."

Roman looked over at the dining room table and noticed all of the boys' candy on it, but no book. He rushed over to it and brushed everything all over the place, looking around. 

"Cousin!" he spun around. "the book is gone!"

Niko ran over and looked with him and sure enough, there was no book. 

"Where is it? We locked the place..."

They both looked at Kate.

"What are you looking at me for? I didn't take it!"

"You're apparently the expert on this shit, so maybe you know where it is?"

Kate and Packie looked at each other.

"There is one place," Packie said.

**Abandoned Hospital, President's City - 10:56 p.m.**

"Here?" Niko raised an eyebrow as the gang stood on the fence looking at the dilapidated hospital. "I've been here before, there's no books here."

"A while back before you got here, there was some creepy shit happening at this place," Packie informed him before climbing over the fence. 

"Come on, scaredy cat!" Kate teased and smirked and climbed over the fence after her brother with Niko's help. Roman caught a glimpse of her panties.

"She has a nice ass," he muttered to Niko.

"Shut the fuck up!" Niko hissed and climbed over the fence. "I hope you're wearing boxers under that toga, Roman. No one wants to see your hairy ass crack."

"Hey! I do not have a hairy ass crack! I shave, thank you very much."

They all grimaced and pretended to throw up. Roman rolled his eyes.

"Of COURSE I'm wearing boxers under this!" He grabbed onto the chain link fence and struggled climbing over, finally falling over onto the dirt face down. The boys laughed at him until they all heard a noise coming from the hospital. Roman gripped Mallorie's hand, white-knuckled.

"We're leaving!" he declared and turned back towards the fence, but Niko grabbed his shoulder and turned him back around.

"Oh no you don't. Scaredy cat, I think the Americans call them," he smirked at Kate, who smirked and nodded.

"I'm not scared!" the older Bellic looked at the hospital. "I'm just terrified."

They all looked at him. His eyes went back and forth between them.

"What?"

"Where'd your aunt give birth to this pussy, Niko? Krapea?" Packie looked Roman up and down.

"I'm Serbian, not Swedish!"

"Guys, come on!" Kate led the way to the hospital.

Niko and Gerry carefully removed the wooden planks covering the entrance and the gang looked around inside. Nothing had changed since the last time Niko had been there to retrieve Elizabeta's coke. Graffiti, tables and file cabinets were everywhere, along with pieces of rubble. Everyone walked slowly inside. 

"See up there?" Gerry nudged Roman and pointed up to the platform above them on the second floor and said in a sinister voice, "that was the lobotomy room. Muahahahahahahhaaaaaaaa!!!!"

Roman yelped and hid behind Niko, but his cousin and Packie both took their phone flashlights and held them up to their faces.

_"Ooooooooo-oooooooo!!!!!" _They made spooky noises, raising their eyebrows and making scary faces, causing Roman to run away.

"Stop it! You're scaring him!" Mallorie held Roman's hand.

"Oh, I have some more good news!" Packie smiled. "They conducted all kinds of evil experiments here. Giving people all kinds of crazy medicines that made em go crazy. Doctors told people with cancer that they could come here and get cured just so they could do all kinds of weird experiments and amputations on people," he waggled his eyebrows.

"During the Civil War, it was a hospital for the Union Army too," Kate added.

Roman shook his head. "I don't believe that. You're just making that up to scare me."

"Ah, he's just scared that the Civil War ghosts are gonna shoot him with their ghost guns," Packie laughed. 

"But why would the book be here?" Niko asked.

All of a sudden, a small, shadowy figure darted past in the hallway in front of them, making Roman yelp again and jump behind Mallorie, trembling.

"W...what was that?" he asked in a shaky voice.

Everyone looked at each other nervously. "Let's split up," Kate suggested.

"'Oh good idea, Katie!' said no horror movie ever," Packie scoffed.

"There's a ton of rooms in here, Packie! It's gonna take us hours to go through it all together."

Packie sighed. "You're right. Niko and Wimpy Fatass--"

"Roman."

"Whatever. You two go check the side rooms. Girls, you check the main rooms. Gerry and I will go straight down the hall," he took a deep breath. "Let's go."

Everyone split up. Roman looked in one of the side rooms.

"There is nothing here, Niko. Niko?" he looked around and behind him, but his cousin was nowhere to be found. "oh great..."

He started to walk down the dark hallway slowly, trying to console himself.

"Come on, Ro, pull it together...there's no such thing as ghosts, there's no such thing as ghosts...there's no such thing as--"

Before he could say "ghosts," a hooded figure approached him from the side, unbeknownst to him. Two rough hands slowly removed the hood.

"Boo!" the younger Bellic hissed with a mischievous smile on his face. Roman jumped and his heart skipped two beats.

"Jesus, Niko..." He said in a hushed whisper, shaking his head. Niko just softly chuckled.

"You're such a wuss. Are you okay?"

"Fine...let's just get this over with."

"Come on, Ro, this is fun!"

"Fun for you, maybe! I'd rather be strapped to a chair and watch _Evil Dead _than be here!"

Niko simply rolled his eyes and smiled. "Come onnn..."

They each went in different side rooms, Niko going down a bit farther than Roman. Soon, Niko found himself in the room with the desk that Elizabeta's coke had been in. He noticed something under the desk. It looked like a treasure chest.

"I didn't see this the last time I was here..." Niko mused with a curious look on his face as he bent down on his knees and pulled the old chest out by the handle. The handle holding the chest shut was rusty, so he used the edge of his phone to chip away at it. But as soon as he started chipping, the case magically ripped open on its own, causing him to fall backwards on his rear and exclaim "Whoa!" and cough at the dust that the chest emitted.

Niko crawled forward slowly and opened the chest carefully. To his dismay, nothing was in it.

"As with everything I do, this is pointless."

He got up and turned to leave when he heard a small noise behind him that stopped him dead in his tracks. Turning around one footstep at a time, it was his turn to jump when he saw what had appeared in the chest.

A dummy rested against the wooden sides. It had brown eyes, black hair and wore a black suit with a red bow tie and rose and black slacks and shoes. A small piece of paper rested in its suit pocket and a slight smile was on its wooden face. 

"Roman?" Niko tried not to let his voice shake as his eyes stayed fixed on the dummy.

"I'm not falling for that again, Niko!"

"Roman, _samo uđi ovde!"_

Roman sighed, annoyed, and came into the room that Niko was in and jumped when he saw the dummy.

"What is that?"

Niko shrugged. "I don't know. Wasn't here the last time I was here."

Both boys knelt in front of the wooden puppet.

"He's so..._jezivo,_" Roman mused. "is almost like he's alive..."

"There's a note in his pocket..." Niko plucked out the small white piece of paper and opened it up and read it.

"'My name's Slappy. What's yours?"

They both looked at the dummy for any reaction. When they got none, Niko turned the paper over and read,

"'_Karru marri odonna loma molonu karrano.'"_

Both boys looked at Slappy again for a reaction. Nothing. Roman picked him up and slung him over his shoulder.

"I'm taking him."

"What?? Are you crazy?? Have you ever seen _Saw? _You don't fuck with dummies, Roman."

Roman laughed. "Who's scared now? Besides, I've always wanted a ventriloquist dummy. Look."

He put his hand up the back of Slappy's shirt and moved the puppet's mouth to simulate speaking and talked out of the side of his mouth.

"Hi, cousin Niko! Gimme a kiss! Cmon, gimme a kiss!"

"Fuck you!"

Roman laughed as both cousins ran back to the hospital entrance where the others were waiting.

"Guys! Guys! Guys!" Both exclaimed upon finding the rest of the group. "So we were...!"

"And then we were...!"

"And then we found...!"

"And then we opened it and...!"

"Long story short, we found..." Roman did a drum roll as Niko held up Slappy. "this guy!"

They all stared blankly at them.

"Wow, Roman, it's like you're actively trying not to have sex with me," Mallorie scoffed.

"...Well, what does he do?" Gerry asked. Niko and Roman looked at each other.

"Well...we don't know," Roman said. "but we think he has something to do with that book we found."

"The dummy in _Goosebumps_ is named Slappy..." Kate said gravely and she and Packie looked at each other warily. Packie cleared his throat and tried to play it cool.

"So what are you gonna do, dress him up?" he and Gerry laughed.

"No!" Roman shot him a look. "we're just gonna...take him home and see what happens."

"I...wouldn't do that," Kate warned. Roman laughed.

"The two of you are made for each other," he indicated Niko and Kate. "both pussies."

They all stared after him as he walked out towards the parking lot.

"Pot and kettle...?" Kate looked at Niko.

"He wouldn't get it." Niko took her hand and they all left, going their separate ways.

**Middle Park - 11:24 p.m.**

Niko and Roman took the subway back to Quartz West and walked through Middle Park. Normally, they'd just take it back to Quartz East and walk straight home, but Middle Park on Halloween night was fun and filled with decorations: paper ghosts hung in trees and jack-o-lanterns were on the steps leading down towards where the restrooms were. Someone had even put a sea monster in the lake and people were dressed as zombies and trudging on the lawn in tattered clothes. Roman walked through the park, holding Slappy and slightly shuddering, partly from the cold and partly from being scared, while Niko smiled as he looked around.

"Well, well, well, look who it is," the cold Russian voice that they had heard at the party was behind them.

"Oh, great," Niko groaned and turned around. "_what, _Dimitri?"

Dimitri was once more flanked by Faustin and Vlad, still in their costumes. Roman quickly hid Slappy behind his back, but Dimitri noticed.

"What you got there, Bellic?"

"Nothing," Roman said meekly.

"Get it," Dimitri said to Faustin and Vlad, who immediately reached behind Roman and tried to grab Slappy.

"Hey! Back off, he's ours!" Niko tried to shove them away, but they succeeded in grabbing the puppet and handed it to Dimitri, who laughed and held him up.

"Awwww, look at Bellic's new boyfriend, guys! A cute little ventriloquist puppet! What are you gonna do, Bitch Bellic? Dress him up and then touch him in his private parts?"

"Shut up and give him back, Dimitri!" Roman jumped up and tried to catch Slappy, but Dimitri was holding it too high. The Russians continued teasing and laughing at the Serbs, Niko yelling at them to leave them alone. All of a sudden, unbeknownst to all of them, Slappy narrowed his eyes and Dimitri's belt unbuckled and his pants fell down to reveal boxers with hearts on them. Roman and Niko's eyes widened and they seized the chance to run. Dimitri dropped Slappy in shock and Roman caught him and the boys ran towards home, Dimitri, Faustin and Vlad chasing after them.

"GET BACK HERE!" the Russians yelled as Roman and Niko laughed and ran as people in the park stared at them. Slappy took his chance when no one was looking and narrowed his eyes again and Faustin and Vlad's pants fell. The Russians tried to chase after them, but kept falling down trying to pull up their pants, allowing Niko and Roman to run away safely.

The boys ran all the way back to their apartment and went up the elevator and closed the door, out of breath but soon laughing. Soon, however, Niko got serious.

"How did that happen?" he asked, panting.

"I don't know..." Roman looked at Slappy. "Um...w...what do we do with him?"

"The dump?" Niko suggested.

"We found him in a dump...he sleeps in my room."

"Why does he get to sleep in your room?"

"Because I know him from _Goosebumps_! We are friends already, cousin!"

Niko rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Roman took Slappy into his room and sat him on his desk chair. He got out of his costume, changing into nothing but boxers, and got in bed, turning out the light. He tried to close his eyes, but kept opening them and looking at the dummy propped up on his chair. 

Eventually, Roman did drift off, but a few minutes after he closed his eyes, he heard a sinister snarl that made his eyes jump open and his body slowly turn around to face his desk.

"Hello, Roman."


End file.
